Bangers

support Stars Burn Stripes + DeeCRACKS + Pocket Full Of Lies
author PP date 01/06/14 venue UnderWerket, Copenhagen, DEN

We've said this before, but nowhere else is the sorry state of the Danish punk rock scene more visible than tonight. Bangers, an awesome English punk rock band who made an exception on their mainland European tour to come all the way over to Copenhagen to play a show due to us insisting them to do so, had to play in a largely empty venue tonight despite a solid billing from start to finish. It's Sunday, but with four quality acts at just 60 DKK, you'd imagine a little more support from the scene, especially when both us and the DIYMCA crew trying to draw in more and more punk rock bands to the country in recent months. More on that later.

Pocket Full Of Lies

Pocket Full Of Lies

First up is Jakob from the very same DIYMCA crew mentioned earlier. He used to play in an awesome gravelly melodic punk band called The Respirators, but they split up and since then he's been playing acoustically in a solo punk project. Tonight, we push the schedule forward a bit to see if more people will show up, but as he starts it's largely the organizers and the other bands plus a few hangarounds at the venue. That said, he plays a decent set of punk influenced acoustic songs, many of these being re-interpretations of old Respirators songs in acoustic format. It's still somewhat at a demo-stage, but there are more than a few good songs to make it worthwhile to stay around and watch him play.

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DeeCRACKS

DeeCRACKS

DeeCRACKS from Austria hopped on the show last-minute at the recommendation of Ulrich from The 20Belows. They played a show last night at Helsingør and needed another one in CPH for tonight, so we put them up for the show, the band playing for food and beers only this time around. I'm glad we did, because it turns out these boys know how to play tight ass punk rock better than most. It's almost no frills pop punk if it wasn't for the heavier tuning and vocals that are coarse rather than melodic, but their upbeat energy and party atmosphere rubs onto the few people present tonight easily, making their set both infectious and energetic enough to keep the few people at the venue moving from start to finish.

Stars Burn Stripes

Stars Burn Stripes

Next up is local melodic hardcore / punk heroes Stars Burn Stripes who always deliver a catchy, fun set of punk rock wherever they play. Tonight, they showcase a ton of new material from their upcoming album, as well as older highlights like "I Lost The Point", "Bringing Back The Days", and of course, "Buy Now, Pay Later" and "Straight To My Head" which finishes off their set about 30 minutes in. The band plays with energy, with especially rhythm guitarist Lasse making an effort to move around much more than what is the norm for the band. The new songs from their upcoming debut album still sound good live, but now we just need to hear them in a recorded version before we make our final decision.

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Bangers

Bangers

It's a real shame there aren't more people here tonight, because Bangers play a show that is exemplary when it comes to punk rock. No matter how few people are in audience, the band delivers their gravelly, indie-flavored punk rock with passion and dedication, with the whole trio moving around on stage like they mean it. The quality of songs is fantastic; "The Local News", "Captain's Log", "A Curious Mix", "Bad Jokes" all showcase just how good the new album is, whereas material from older albums fulfils the faster, more punk rock oriented side of the band very well. The vocals might be a little off in the mix, lacking the clarity that they do on record, but it's also very difficult to get the sound right when it has the opportunity to bounce off the walls as freely as tonight. That being said, the band's material is just too good to ignore; so even though the venue is almost empty, their set still feels solid throughout. The rest of the scene missed out tonight!

Setlist:

  • 1. Church Street In Ruins
  • 2. The Local News
  • 3. Captain's Log
  • 4. Banging
  • 5. A New Raymondo
  • 6. A Curious Mix
  • 7. Bad Jokes
  • 8. Too Many Dark Knights
  • 9. Creeping Vermin, I Know You
  • 10. The Mitigation Committee

Photos by: Stefan Straten

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